Sealing device fenders for fluid containers



Aug. 9, 1949. J. H. WIGGINS 2,478,730

SEALING DEVICE FENDER FOR FLUI D CONTAINERS Filed Dec. 24, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENQTO'R I'JOHN H. I GIN6 BY W4 ATroR/v Y ing device, or rub on said ,deyice'in such a way hang suspended'irom the underside of the mem Patented Aug. 9, 1949 l v r 2,478,730

UNITED err-ice ansnsg SEALING DEVIGE FENDERS FQR FLUID CONTAINERS.

use a. Wig sna s 1!- Application December 24, 1943, Serial No, 515,513 2 Claims- (01. 48:12.?9

This invention relates tpfluid stora e apparatu m r ble memb o he p r tu i at the end of the particular type 9r kind that comprise a of its stroke in onedirection, and the sealing" tank or container, a vertically-movable member in element is in a distended condition. said container that forms one horizontal, or sub? The accompanying drawings are intended to stantially horizontally=disp9sed wall Q xa storage 5 i illustrate the p nciple of operation of my inv. chamber of variable volume, and a flexible seal: tion and show how the invntionmay be" applied ing element made of gas=tight fabric, or other either to a gas holder. or. to a liquid'storageam suitable material, attached to the side wall of the paratus provided with a vertioal yr nQvab emelfir container and to the verticallyemovable member, ber such a piston or fioa lil g 9 $1, so as to hang suspended from said member when 19, equipped with a sealing means for said verticall said member rises and falls. Apparatus of the movable member thatcomprisesafleigible Sea kind above referred to are shown in my U. S. element attached to-said verticallyrlnoigable In Patents Nos. 2,050,685 and 2,056,685, dated August her, so as to hang downwardly frpin'same wh 11, 1936; No. 2,102,299, dated December 14, said member rises, the lie iiuidibeing here 1' 1937; and in my co-pending application Serial 1 ,use, d to cover both gases andliguids.

No. 363,835, filed Novemher 1,1940, now u. s. Fi ure 1 s a rraern ta 've ial t an ve se Patent No. 2,363,565, dated November 28, 1944. sectional view of an apparatus embodying ili y One object of my present inventionis to provide invention. a novel means for controlling, regulating, or gov Figure 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of erning the general shape of form of the flexible 29, the collapsible lender or barrier that is used sealing element of an apparatus of the: general to prevent excessive bulging or bellying of the type or kind above mentioned, during the rise sealing element attached to the peripheral edge and fall of the vertically-movable member to of the vertically mqvable member of' the @15 which said sealing element is attached. paratus. d Another object is to provide an eflicient means 25, Figure 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional of simple design and novel construction, for preview, takenon the line 3:3 of Figure 1; and

venting the flexible sealing element of such an Figure 4 is a vertical transverse sectional View,

apparatus from bulging or bellying excessively, illustrating my present invention, applied to a in instances where said elementis subjected to'a gas holder of the particular kind disclosed in rny force, pressure, or load tending to flex it inwardly 30 previously mentioned pending application Serial away from the side wall portion of the tank or No. 363,835. container of the apparatus. In the accompanying drawings, A designates Another object is to provide a sealing element a stationary tank or container, and B designates control or governing means of the kind above a vertically-movable member, that is arranged mentioned, that will automatically collapse into 3 inside of'said container so as to co-operate with an inactive condition, where it takes "up very a portion C of the container to form a chamber little space below the vertically-movable member X of variable volume, in which a fluid is'stored. of the apparatus when said member reaches the The portion 0 of the container that is arranged end of its downward stroke, and which will pro in opposed relation to the vertically-movable gressively unfold and assume the form of a-fender, member B, may constitute either the top .wall' barrier, or fence that restricts inward flexing of or the bottom-wall of the storage chamber X. The the sealing element, while said vertically-movable space or joint between the peripheral edge of the member is traveling upwardly. vertically-movable member B, and the stationarj Another object is to provide a centre] or goyside wall portion of the container A is sealed by erning means for the flexible sea-ling device of 4 a flexible element -D attached to the peripheral an apparatus of the kind mentioned, that will edge of the vertically-movable member B and to not interfere with the proper flexingof said sealthe side' wall portion 'of the contiainerjso as to as to injure or form holes in the same. ber B when said m ember'rises and falls. The

And still another .obiect .of my invention is 5'9 sealing element D, which is preferably constructed to provide a sealing element control means, of gas-tight fabric, isusu'ally'attached to thes'i'de which, in addition to preventing bulgingpr bellywall of the container near the middle 'of' said ing of the sealing element, also causes said le' Wall, and is made of such shape and dimensions ment to assume a predetermined shape or form, that said element will assume the shape or form" free from random wrinkles, when the vertical-ly- 55 of'a downwardly hanging loop during the travel of the member B from one of its extreme positions to its other extreme position. To insure that the loop of said sealing element will hang downwardly, or, in other words, with the closed portion of the loop positioned at the lower end of the loop, a means D is preferably combined with the element D, so as to tend to hold said element in a downwardly-looped condition. Said means D may consist of anything that will exert a load, downward force, or pressure, on the closed lower end of the loop of the sealing element D. It is herein illustrated as consisting of an annular member, made of a coiled metal rod or wire, that extends circumferentially around the sealing element D.

In order to prevent the sealing element D from bulging or bellying excessively, due to pressures.

or forces tending to flex it inwardly away from the side Wall of vertically-movable member B, a structure that functions as a barrier, fender, or fence for the sealing element D when said vertically-movable member is moving upwardly and is at the end of itsupward stroke, and which, during the downward stroke of the member inactive position.

In the case of a gas holder, the part previously referred to as a vertically-movable member B, would consist of a piston that reciprocates in a container A, whose side wall portion is closed at its upper end by a roof C that co-operates with the piston to form a gas storage space or chamber X, the sealing element D being attached to the side wall of the container and to the peripheral edge of the piston. Figure 1 illustrates the piston B as being balanced by a counterweighting mechanism that comprises a weight I attached to a chain or cable 2 that leads upwardly from the weight over pulleys o1 sheaves 3 carried by the roof C, and then downwardly to the piston B through a stuffing box 4 in said roof. The barrier, fender, or fence, previously referred to, is herein illustrated as being of substantially rigid, annular, horizontally-disposed compression members 6 carried by a plurality of groups of flexible supporting devices 5, such as chains or cables, suspended from the peripheral edge of the piston B at a point between the sealing element D and the center of the piston. The flexible supporting devices 5 are arranged in spaced relation, around the peripheral edge of the piston, as shown in Figure 2, and when the piston is in its extreme elevated position, as shown in full lines in Figure 1, the compression members 6 are disposed in superimposed relation, or one above the other in vertical alignment with each other. downward movement of the piston, the fender, barrier, or fence formed by the parts 5 and 6, collapses vertically and assumes a completely collapsed or inactive condition, by the time the piston reaches the end of its downward stroke, as shown in broken lines in Figure 1.

As the piston starts to move upwardly, the part D or equivalent means that exerts a downward load or weight causes said sea-ling element to assume the form of a downwardly-hanging pended from the piston and from the side wall of the container A. During the upward travel of the piston, the topmost compression member 6 moves into operative relationship with the sealing e ement D. then the second compression member 6 moves into operative relationship with said During the on the sealing element D,-

looo, whose lower end is closed and whose side wall portions are sus-' formed by a group sealing element, etc., with the result that by the time the piston reaches the end of its upward stroke, the sealing element D surrounds a group of superimposed, horizontally-disposed compression members that hang from the underside of the piston, and which effectively prevent said sealing element from bellying inwardly excessively, in the event an abnormal pressure or force exists or is created in the space between the sealing element D and the side wall portion of the container. So far as my invention is concerned, it is immaterial what causes the sealing element D to bulge 0r belly inwardly, but one thing that is liable to cause such excessive flexing of the sealing element D, is excessive friction of the working parts of the apparatus, tending to impede the movement of the piston. Excessive bulging or bellying might also be caused by storing gases in the chamber D at a pressure considerably above atmosphere.

In addition to effectively preventing the flexible sealing device of the apparatus from excessive bulging or bellying, due to an abnormal force or pressure being exerted on same, a bafile, barrier, or fender of the kind above described causes the sealing element D to assume a definite wave shape around its entire circumference, as shown in Figure 3, when the piston is at the end of its upward stroke and said sealing element is in a distended condition. This is highly advantageous, as it permits the effective circumference of the sealing element D to be reduced without liability of said element folding over on itself in large wrinkles, or causing an accumulation of wrinkles which might strain the fabric of which the element D is constructed. Nor does such a means have a tendency to wear holes in the flexible element D when the piston rises and falls, owing to the fact that said means is of such construction and arrangement, that after it has been engaged by the element D, there is no relative vertical motion between said element and said means, but instead, the contacting parts of the sealing element D and the compression members 6 and flexible supporting devices 5, travel in the same direction at the same speed. As previously intimated, my invention is applicable to an apparatus in which the fluid being stored is confined on the underside of the vertically-movable member of the apparatus.

In Figure 4 of the drawings I have illustrated my invention embodied in a gas holder of the kind illustrated in my pending application Serial No. 363,835, which is provided with a piston B having a center opening, up through which extends a tubular roof supporting member 8 that assists in supporting the roof of the container and also carries sheaves 3*, over which travel chains or cables 2 attached to a counterweight I housed by said tubular center member 8. An additional flexible sealing device D is used to seal the space or joint between the piston and the central supporting member 8, but in such a structure the center sealing element D is of such size and arrangement that it has no tenden'cy to bulge or belly excessively.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for storing fluids, comprising a container provided with a side wall, a verticallymovable piston in said container that forms one wall of a storage chamber of variable volume, a flexible, curtain-like sealing element attached circularly at one of its edges to the side wall of the tank and at its other edge to the periphery of the piston, so that in all positions of the piston said sealing element extends downwardly from its line'of attachment to the tank wall, over, and upwardly to its line of attachment to said piston, and a substantially rigid, horizontally-disposed, annular member suspended by a flexible means from the underside of the piston circumferentially between the center of the piston and said curtain-like sealing element and disposed so as to take up forces or pressures exerted on said sealing element in a direction tending to cause said element to bulge inwardly excessively away from the side wall of the container.

2. An apparatus for storing fluids, comprising a container provided with a side wall, a verticallymovable piston in said container, a flexible, curtain-like sealing element attached circularly at one of its edges to the side wall of the tank and at its other edge to the periphery of the piston, so that in all positions of the piston said sealing element extends downwardly from its line of attachment to the tank wall, over, and upwardly to its line of attachment to said piston, and a verti-= cally-collapsible barrier positioned beneath the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,911,462 Neal May 30, 1.933 2,102,299 Wiggins Dec. 14, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Great Britain, 1823 NOV. 8, 1823 a 

